Hi Bill
Yes my 4 year old was just diagnosed a year ago with the pectus, I have noticed an indent on his chest for a long time, and thought it was from his
heart surgery when he was 3 1/2 months old (they are not really sure what caused the pectus either) and it seems to have gotten worse. he also has
asthma and they are saying that is what is causing his breathing issues, however they are realizing it might not be his asthma doing it due to the
fact that he is not wheezing and his lungs are perfectly clear when he has this. so they are questioning some things and can't do much until he is 5.
I would love to post a picture of his PE but don't know how
good luck with your poll

You might be interested in this from Dr. Nuss's "history" page on the CHKD website. He says that even small obstructions to breathing can cause
sternal retraction in children.

"The rationale for the technique was based on the three factors:

1. Children have soft and malleable chests. In young children, the chest is so soft that even minor respiratory obstruction can cause severe sternal
retraction. Trauma rarely causes rib fractures; flail chest, etc., because âthe chest is so soft and malleable.â21-23 The American Heart Association
recommends âusing only two fingersâ when performing cardiac resuscitation in young children and âonly one hand in older childrenâ for fear of crushing
the heart.

2. Even middle-aged and older adults develop a barrel-shaped chest configuration in response to chronic obstructive respiratory diseases such as
emphysema. If older adults are able to reconfigure the chest wall, children and teenagers should be able to do the same, given the increased
malleability of their anterior chest wall.

3. The role of braces and serial casting in successfully correcting skeletal anomalies such as scoliosis, clubfoot, and maxillomandibular malocclusion
by orthopedic and orthodontic surgeons is well established. The anterior chest wall, being even more malleable than the previously mentioned skeletal
structures, is therefore ideal for this type of correction."

ive had serious asthma since i was born. im 24 years old now. i had the nuss procedure in may 2007. Prior to surgery i would require my inhaler on a
average of 4-5 times a week.
But since surgery i havent had 1 asthma attack or used my inhaler.